Who is devoduvek?

Here is our interview with David "devoduvek" Dobrosavljevic,  the new EnvyUs team's player. We did this interview two months ago with his mate François "AmaNEk" Delauney. We decided to translate his answers so you can learn who he is,  where he comes from and where did he start Counter-Strike. So, who is this devoduvek?

Hey, thanks for granting us this interview. First of all, you are a young player in the french scene, could you briefly present yourself to our readers that do not know you well ?

devoduvek: Hey neL, I’m David, I’m 22 years old and I live in the French region of Ile-De-France. I spend most of my time playing CS.

Why the nickname devoduvek?

devoduvek: Thanks for asking me this question as it’s with great pleasure that I answer it! It’s actually two separate words, dev-oduvek. Initially, my first nickname on the Internet was deviilll, then at one point, I wanted to change, I got things like devon1, devk0r but I didn’t find it very good. Therefore, I searched for inspiration in my native tongue, and I thought of the word “oduvek” that can be translated to “Since always” in serbian. When I mixed dev with oduvek, I thought it sounded pretty good and it was pretty cool haha. So yeah, dev since always basically.

I started CS:GO in November 2014.

Now, recalling your beginnings, when and how did you start the game? Do you come from Source or 1.6? You and AmaNEk are seen as a duo, how did you meet each other ?

devoduvek: I started CS:GO in November 2014. We’re both from 1.6. We’re not really a duo in game, but we share the same opinions on how to play the game. We met each other between 2007 and 2008, I don’t remember how exactly, but at the time we did not cross paths much until 2011 when I got back into CS (without forming a team). When I got into CS:GO, I immediately started playing with AmaNEk and maouim3 since they were the only acquaintances that I had left that still played the game.

You start making yourself known during Gamers Assembly 2015 when you arrive from nowhere and stand out from other teams. Tell us how you prepared and simply what you wanted to accomplish during the event.

devoduvek: Well honestly, we expected to win initially and then we saw Titan and we thought that we were going to be second. I personally had no knowledge of the French scene, the only CS:GO experience that I had were Faceit matches that we played every night and I remember that we rarely encountered French people. As for the preparation, there wasn’t necessarily any, we played Faceit as a team for two months, since we didn’t know how teams practiced in the first place. Basically, we only played pugs before the event.

You step into the “professional” tier with teams like Gplay, LDLC Blue, WE GOT GAME , unKnight and iGamers in your group. Names and players used to this level on LAN. You don’t win any game but you weren’t a joke either, how did you live that moment?

devoduvek: Well, you can kind of say that we were a bit of a joke. First of all, we had the excuse of fatigue, I personally know that it was the first time that I played CS without having a good night of sleep so I was really exhausted and not used to this at all. Then, we also realized the difference of skill at that point between pug teams that we played against on Saturdays as a team and teams like Gplay or WGG that actually had team coordination. No need to precise that our Yolo Mac10 rush style of game did not work at all on Sunday. And also, it’s not like we had a complex game plan. We were pretty disappointed.

When AmaNEk joined you once again on MINLATE and you were just about to qualify for the Minor, everything hinges on a decisive game against HellRaisers, how did you live that moment?

devoduvek: It was the first time that we played against a pretty skilled team and it had only been three weeks that I we were playing with AmaNEk again. We told each other at that point that we had just reached a big milestone and that we had really gotten better, even more so as the scores were pretty close. It was our first international performance.

In 2015, the only CS:GO experience that I had were Faceit matches that we played every night.

You then join Red Instinct where the duo forms again with maou1m3, a former MINLATE player, and the Kan4/thyx duo. During Game Assembly 2016, you reach a 5-6 placing? Kind of disappointing even though the level was pretty high, what happened?

devoduvek: Our experience and preparation was still too weak to reach a top 3 placing. In the end, we lose in overtime against WGG that then loses against LDLC Blue (finalist) 16-14 on the same map, but it’s clear that we lacked experience if we hoped to reach the podium. We still made too many mistakes, we did not adapt to situations, we were too predictable… Point is, there were still a lot of things missing to reach the next step.

You then win the BYOC Tournament at DH Tours in front of WGG and RIns.RS and it’s your first great victory, the first title, first big cash prize, did this event have any significance to you?

devoduvek: Well, I’m going to get a bit more into detail here regarding the drama at the qualifier. Initially, I was supposed to replace Scara for the online qualifier and, in case of qualification, I would not participate. But lipton decided to leave WGG which left a slot in the team. I, logically, asked AmaNEk to come play while knowing that if we qualified, scara would take his place (since I was taking lipton’s). A few days after our qualification, NpK lost motivation and thought that AmaNEk really deserved to play at the ESWC. Nobody forced NpK to take this decision and I respect him immensely for having the courage to leave his spot like that. We then qualify for the ESWC and at that point, you should know that there was no team. Just a mix. We still decided to prepare before the event like a real team. Our objective was clear : Stand out by getting out of groups, and the rest was a bonus.

The ESWC arrives and you get placed into a tough group with Millenium, k1ck Oldschool carried by fox and finally the Brazilians on Luminosity. Did you have a particular opinion of this group? Did you think you reach the playoffs?

devoduvek: A lot of people were saying that we had a hard group but for me, we got the easiest first seed (LuminosityG). For k1ck, we weren’t necessarily afraid of the entirety of the team, there’s clearly a difference in skill between fox and his teammates. We already knew which maps we were going to play against every team because they all had a pretty straightforward and predictable veto. In the end, the group stage was much easier than we could have imagined.

You then leave as winners, with two wins, you then overpower the Finns of iGame and get to the big matchup against Epsilon. Here, we’re on another level, and on stage, and you wreck them completely, how do you explain this?

devoduvek: First of all, let’s get back to iGame for a bit, we knew they had a good level but we were really expecting to beat them as easily. For Epsilon, it’s not really explainable, everyone was warmed up, we did not make mistakes, we won all our duels, we had solid CT Sides. Personally and just like everyone, I did not think us capable of beating Epsilon 16-7 and 16-8. In the end, I’d say that the results of the previous games gave us a lot of confidence.

To really answer the question, if we had won Cache against Alternate, yeah, I think we could have won ESWC.

The feat is done but the tournament is not over, you reach the semi-finals against Alternate. Did you know this team, were you impressed or what? You narrowly lose the first map 16-14 then the second map was a nightmare, did you have any regrets?

devoduvek: Regarding Alternate, AmaNEk and I, we knew the team pretty well since we played against them during CEVO Playoffs. I’d rank them a tad above Epsilon. They were impressive because their LAN play was exactly the same as their online games, unlike the other teams. And it’s also the only team that had a smart veto against us by picking overpass, the only map with Nuke that we couldn’t prepare. We knew that if we lost Cache, our odds of winning overpass were very slim. However, by winning Cache… we planned on winning the BO3 on Cobblestone. I’d say our only regret, was to not have been able to play cobblestone, Overpass was not really a disappointment.

Do you think you could have won ESWC?

devoduvek: It’s a hard question, one thing is certain, we would have loved to play against LDLC in the final. I think it could have been a very good game! But to really answer the question, if we had won Cache against Alternate, yeah, I think we could have won ESWC.

After this good performance, you reach the HLTV Ranking, the world’s top 30. Does that mean anything to you?

devoduvek: Of course, it’s the first time that it happens to all of us, so yeah, I think that’s pretty good for us. And also, it’s particularly the “looks” of others that change, we aren’t randoms anymore in their eyes, we have a certain legitimacy in the lower international tiers.

Explain the story with Millenium, you’re joining Maniac with AmaNEk and jarod, and then finally you don’t. What happened?

devoduvek: We had the opportunity to join Millenium, which we accepted. Not only for the money, which remains one of the main reasons, but also for the opportunities behind that Millenium could offer us. In the end, Millenium was late in giving us a definitive answer and Scara came back to us with a more interesting offer than them. I am pretty satisfied with the turn of events since our initial decision was to keep going together, but as I said previously, it was hard to decline Millenium’s offer for certain reasons. Today, we start things off right where we left them two weeks ago and we plan on to catch up.

Being in HLTV Ranking? It’s particularly the “looks” of others that change, we aren’t randoms anymore in their eyes, we have a certain legitimacy in the lower international tiers.

So you’re going to be paid to play Counter-Strike, what does this represent for you?

devoduvek: It’s been one of my objectives for a while, I think my motivation will be even greater today. It will also allow me to take certain things in the game more seriously.

Alright, let’s move onto a controversial subject, the rumors of cheating and this reputation that some have been propagating.Do you know where it all began? Who started it, and when?

devoduvek: It all started during the Game Assembly, I had 350 hours on my steam account and AmaNEk was running around with a mac10. Obviously, people had a tough time taking it all in. I don’t exactly know who started the rumor but either way, it quickly got around on Vakarm and it all went from there.

What’s your opinion on the fact that you are still seen as cheaters or onliners by some (at least until the ESWC… and still)? How do you explain this?

devoduvek: I don’t care, people usually throw cheat accusations without proof and then once they find a single thing (cf. one of my videos), they reassure themselves by telling themselves that that particular moment is undeniable proof. I knew that our performance at the ESWC would not change anything for certain people. I’m happy about it anyway, it proves the extent of their stubbornness and that they’re not very clever.

What do you say to those that doubt you and watch your demos at 0.25 speed?

devoduvek: Thanks for the youtube money. Seriously though, I have nothing to say to them. I like to make fun of them, that’s all.

About being called a cheater: I don’t care, people usually throw cheat accusations without proof and then once they find a single thing, they reassure themselves by telling themselves that that particular moment is undeniable proof.

Do you think it is possible to cheat at a high level, and precisely on LAN? By also taking into account the fact that no one has ever been convicted so far.

devoduvek: Like everyone, I have doubts, I ask questions and I ask myself whether it’s really possible. We can see from time to time people who try to cheat and that get VAC/FACEIT/ESEA banned… I can believe that some coders distribute their cheats to one or two people but really, where is all the proof except speculation? When I see the stubbornness when it comes to myself and AmaNEk, I tell myself that in the end, it’s probably nonsense and it reassures me. In the end, I don’t know, but at least, I cannot claim that people cheat with certainty, unlike others.

Personally, do you have as an objective, the possibility of playing for G2, nV or a team of this level?

devoduvek: We play CS to get to this level, it’s clearly one of my objectives. If tomorrow, a team of this type offers a spot to any of us, I do not see how a rejection could be possible.

Thank you for the interview, I leave you the last word, if you have anything to say, go ahead!

devoduvek: First of all, a big thanks to you neL for this interview. I took great pleasure in answering your questions! Thoughts go to all the people that I met while playing CS and that I get along with really well, it’s always good to find cool people. And of course, do not hesitate to follow me on twitter at twitter.com/nV_devoduvekk.

Big thanks to Firsou for translation.